Roof covering



UE- 31 1954 f H. @BRAHAM 2,687,701

' RooF covERING Filed umn 24. 195s 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. `31, 1954 2,687,701 ROOF COVERING Herbert Abraham,

New York,

N. Y., assigner to The Ruberoid Co., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 24, 1953, Serial No. 344,403

(Cl. 10S-8) 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a roof covering of asbestos-cement or other rigid shingles applied according to the Dutch-Lap method whereby each shingle of a course is sidelapped by an adjacent shingle of that course and is headlapped by portions of shingles of the next upper course.

One object of the invention is to provide a reversible Dutch-Lap shingle having serrated lower and upper edges which shingles may be applied, by reversing or inverting them edgewise, either from right to left or from left to right to eiTect a roof covering of like attractive or ornamental appearance, in either case, in which the butt edges of the shingles of the several courses consist of a succession of projections and recesses having ininclined or horizontal edges.

Another object is to provide a roof covering of shingles having serrated upper and lower edges that may be applied either with the joints staggered in halves, or with the joints zigzagged or stepped as in the case of the conventional Dutch- Lap shingles.

A further object is to provide shingles that have serrated butts and that are more economical in the use of material than the conventional prior art roof shingles.

I accomplish these objects, as well as others, by means of the shingles illustrated in the aocompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of shingle embodying the invention; l

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a spacer for use with the shingles to effect a roof covering in which are broken in staggered halves;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a section of a roof covering having the joints broken in halves with the shingles applied from left to right;

Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the shingles laid from right to left;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of a section of a roo-f covering showing the shingles laid from left to right to provide joints that break in zigzag or stepped formation;

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the shingles laid from right to left;

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of four shingles applied according to the Dutch-Lap method, and with the use of spacers to break joints in halves;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal cross section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a transverse cross section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a modified form` of the shingle; and, i

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a modied formof spacer.

`l'n the present instance each of said edges comprise two similar straight end portions, i3, and

equal to the extent of the desired sidelap when the shingles are laid. By having the width the same as the extent of sidelap, said portions serve as guides for properly lapping the shingles of a course.

' portion I3 will be four inches.

Fig. 2 of the drawings illustrates a spacer .member I'Ito be used with the shingles when they are to be laid, in either direction, with the joints staggered in halves, The spacer member same material as the shingle, and has parallel top and bottom edges i8 and i9. The horizontal width of the spacer member is determined by the following formula, :c=1/2(a-b) -b, in which a is the horizontal width of the shingle, b is the width of the sidelap, and :c is the horizontal width of the spacer member. Applying this formula, in the case of a shingle of twenty-four inch width designed to be applied with a four inch sidelap, it will be seen that the length of the spacer meminch height, should preferably be three inches, and accordingly the spacers may each be three inches high so as to correspond with the headlap.

Essential features of the design of the shingle to the bottom, or vice-versa, and that the length and direction of one edge portion of the shingle shall correspond to the length and direction of the correlative edge of the spacer member. For instance, referring again to Figs. l and 2, it will be seen that the portion M of the bottom edge of the shingle corresponds exactly with the bottom edge I9 of the spacer member l1. By reason of this relationship of parts, the butt edge portion hl of each overlying shingle will be in perfect registration with the lower edge of the underlying spacer member, when the shingles are applied in either direction.

Each shingle has a preformed nail or storm anchor hole 253 adjacent each of `its rcorners at one sideedge, and two holes 2l atv each of its corners adjacent the opposite side edge. These holes are similar in position, arrangement, and function to the corresponding holes of the conventional type of Dutch-Lap shingle. In addition the shingle has a pairiof holes 22, one adjacent the top edge and the--otheradjacent the bottom edge, of which one or the other serves to permit of passage of the nail that iastens the spacer member, depending upon the direction in which the shingles are laid. ber has a preformed nailhole 23 disposed midwasT of itswidth' and. nearer its top than its bottom edge. In application of the shingles as hereinafter described, `the hole 23 in the spacer will fallv in registration with one orthe other of the holes 22 of a shingle. For the sake of positioning the spacer upon which it is superposed, it is desirable that the topl edge I8 of the spacer shall conform in direction, though not necessarily in width, with the portion I6 of the top edge l! of said shingle. With a shingle of twenty-four inch width, the width `of the edge portion I6 will be five inches, while the width of the spacer will be six inches. Consequently the spacer will extend towards one side somewhat beyond said shingle edge portion, as seen at the right hand side of Fig. 3 or the left hand side of Fig. 4.

In laying the .shingles from left to right, as illustrated diagrammatically in Figs. 3 and 7, a starter course, formed of shingles split in halves, isrlaid and then the first course of shingles is applied with the left edge 24 of Veach shingle sidelapped on the preceding shingle, and fastened with nails and storm anchors 26. Superposed on each shingle is a spacer member Il secured by anail 21. Referring to Fig. 7, which shows four contiguous shingles arranged in two courses,`

it will be seen that the top edge i8 of the spacer member aligns .with the top edge portion vHi of shingle Ilia, and that its right end abuts the overlapping edge 2li of the second shingle lb ofthe. same course. When the next course is applied to headlap the first, the lower portion of the right end of shingle lc will abut the left end of the spacer, and the lower edge portion I4 of shingle ld will coincide with the bottom edge I9 or the spacer. This relationship of shingles andspacers prevails throughout in applying all of the succeeding courses. In Fig. 7, for sake of clarity of illustration, the shingles IBC and ld are indicated by dot, and ,dot-and-dash lines, respectively.

Application from right to left, as indicated in Fig. 4, is effected in thesame general manner, except that in this case each shingle IG is reversed edgewise so that its serrated edge Il becomes its bottom or butt edge, and each spacer member l1 is inverted facewise. That is, in applyng vfrom left to right the spacers are laid with their front or obverse surface upward, while in applyingrfrom right to left they Vare laid with their rear or reverse surface upward.

When the shingles are so applied, in either direction, they will break joint in halves throughout. In other words, the edges 24 of the shingles ofany-course will fall in line with the middle of The spacer memf properly with the shingleV each shingle having the exposed portions of the shingles' of the courses immediately below and above. No covering of Dutch-Lap vshingles has heretofore been proposed wherein they could break joint in halves.

The shingles may also be laid from left to right, as in Fig. 5, or from right to left, as in Fig. 6, without use of any spacer members in the manner customarily employed in applying conventional Dutch-Lap shingles. However, with the shingles of the present invention the roof covering has serrated or staggered butts throughout. In either case where the singles are applied without spacer members the joints formed by the sidelapping edges 24 are zigzagged or stepped throughout the several courses.

A modified form of the shingle 1s shown in Fig. 10 wherein the top and bottom edges Il and I2 are each formed with a succession of recesses and projections i3', l', i5', and l5', all of which have straight horizontal edge portions instead of some of them having -slanting edges as inthe form of` shingle of Fig. l. The spacer member I1 for use with this modiiied shingle hasstraght horizontal parallel top and bottom edges I3 Iii. rIhe manner oi applying these shingles with or without spacer members, and laid either from left to right or right to left, is precisely the same as that hertofore described.

Various other modifications of the shingle may be made within the scope of the invention so lons as the essential features of form and relationship of parts set forth herein, and pointed out inthe claims are maintained. Specific dimensions herein given are by way be varied.

By the term serratedf as used to denne the shape of the top and bottom edges of the shingles, is meant that they are formed of broken-lines made of a number of straight lines joined at their ends and not constituting la continuous straightA line.V

What I claim is:

l. A roof covering composed of reversible rigid shingles adapted tobe applied in contiguous courses either from left to right or right to left, each shingle having top and bottom edges consisting of broken-lines forming a succession of projections and indentations which when the shingles are reversed edgewise and laid with either edge downward present butts having the same serrated appearance, each shingle of a course being sidelapped by an end portion of an a-djoining shingle of the same course and headlapped by butt portions of shingles of the next upper course, the shingles being secured in such relationship by nails and storm anchors passing through preformed openings in the shingles.

2. A roof covering shingles adapted to be appliedin contiguous courses either from left to right or right to left,

top. and bottom edges consisting of broken-lines forming a succession of projections and indentations which when the shingles are reversed edgewise and laid with either edge downward present butts having the same serrated appearance, each shingle of a course being sidelapped by an end portion of an adjoining shingle of the same course and headlapped 'by butt portions of shingles of the next portions of the broken-lines upper course, the forming the end sections of the top and bottom edges of the shingle being equal in width to the extent that the shingles are designed to headlap.

3. A roof covering composed ofreversible rigid shingles. adapted to be` applied in contiguous courses either from left to right .onrightrtorleft and of illustration only and mayr composed of reversible rigid to break Joint in halves, each shingle having 5. A roof covering as in claim 3 wherein the top and bottom edges consisting of broken-lines shingles are reversed edgewise and the spacer gles of the next upper course, a spacer member 10 succession of projections and indentations which upper course. 20 in either reversed position being the same in 4. A roof covering asin claim 3 wherein each length and direction as the bottom edge of a spacer member is quadrilateral in form and of a spacer member, so that said section of an overhorizontal width determined by the following lying shingle 'will cover the underlying spacer formula: :c=1/2(a-bf)l1, in which :c is the horimember and will coincide with the bottom edge zontal width of the spacer member. a is the hori- 25 thereof.

zontal width of the shingle. and b is the horizontal width o! the sidelap. No references cited. 

